Chateau Musar is the name of a Lebanese winery in Ghazir, Lebanon, north of the capital Beirut. Musar grapes grow in the Beqaa Valley, a fertile sunny valley at an elevation of, situated east of Beirut.
History
The winery was established by Gaston Hochar in 1930 after returning from Bordeaux. Gaston Hochar was succeeded by his sons, Ronald and Serge Hochar, with the latter managing the estate from 1959 till his death in 2014, and Ronald Hochar assuming marketing and finance department responsibilities from 1962. Serge Hochar's sons have succeeded him at the winery. Gaston Hochar is now in charge of the day-to-day running of the winery, and Marc Hochar is in charge of the winery's commercial aspects. In 1959, Serge Hochar becomes Chateau Musar winemaker, while completing his winemaking studies at the University of Oenology in Bordeaux, under the tutorage of Jean Riberau and Emile Peynaud. The international discovery of Musar took place at the Bristol Wine Fair of 1979 when auctioneer and taster Michael Broadbent and journalist Roger Voss selected Musar 1967 as the "discovery of the Fair". Despite war in Lebanon and frequent tension, with the exception of the 1976 vintage, wine has been produced at the Château every year, with employees sometimes working under high-risk conditions. The 1992 red Chateau Musar production was declassified due to a weak vintage. Though comparisons are sometimes made with Bordeaux wine, Burgundy wine or Rhône wine, it is most frequently maintained that the wine of Musar is unique. Due to the winemaking philosophy of Serge Hochar, its vintages are notoriously inconsistent. According to Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade Review, Serge Hochar died in a swimming accident in Mexico in late December 2014.
Production
The red wine, which is the best known is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache, and Mourvèdre grapes in varying amounts each year. The whites are made from Obaideh and Merwah. Both wines contain classic Bordeaux grapes, however they are very different, as they are made in a natural wine style with significant bottle variation. The wines generally improve with age, both the red and whites. They also produce a single vineyard wine, Hochar, which is similar to the red Musar but is oak aged for only 9 months, and can be drunk younger, as well as the Cuvée Musar range, both produced as a red, white and a rosé. Hochar Père et Fils is released earlier and can be used as an indication of what the Chateau Musar wine will be like. It is usually around half the price of the regular Chateau Musar. They have also begun production of a restaurant range, Musar Mosaic, and a wine from their younger grapes, Musar Jeune.
